THR: Will Ferrell Is the Most Overpaid Actor In the World
by Big Hollywood
Paul Bond at the Hollywood Reporter:
“Looks like “Land of the Lost” has earned star Will Ferrell the dubious distinction of being the most overpaid actor in show business, according to the list makers at Forbes magazine.
“Forbes looked at 100 top actors based on their widely released films over the past five years. It factored in the production costs of those movies against how much boxoffice, DVD and other revenue they generated in order to come up with an operating income for each film, which it then compared with the salaries the stars earned.
“In Ferrell’s case, the actor’s films earned just $3.29 for every dollar he was paid. That’s a pretty poor contrast to the $160 that Shia LaBeouf’s movies returned to the studios for every buck he earned.”
More names and the full story here.
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123 Comments
Not surprised. He's such a douche
He's now paid to bash Republicans so it doesn't matter how much his films make.
i really tried to watch one of his movies, it was so bad i swore i would never watch anything he did again, an i haven't even been tempted.
A professional buffoon who yearns to be taken seriously; as trite a story as anything and everything that Hollywood now produces.
I didn't know he was an actor. I just figured he was a moron who was lucky enough to get paid for being a buffoon in front of a camera. If he was paid $.10 a movie he would still be overpaid.
Joe S., Hollywood Native & Non-Conformist Reporting In:
Ferrell is just another OVERPAID MILLIONAIRE blowharder in that moral outback known as Malibu? (where's the news?)
BUT REALLY FOLKS: The Hollywood Democrat's invertebrate public twitch-down of their phantom limb/absentMoralCompass doesn't register their own Greed & Hypocrisy.
Consider>>
Oprah Winfrey is a jet-setting Billionair-ess (or close to it)- YET, Oprah's Harpo Productions has several UNPAID COLLEGE INTERNS working there. And don't get me started on all the other Actors and Lefty Production Companies in town who think it is OKAY TO NOT PAY college interns.
AT LEAST WHEN YOU WORK ON WALL STREET as a college student, the investment companies pay you for your time, and don't use the excuse of "unpaid training" to rip young people off. (AND WHY ARE THESE HOLLYWOOD LIBERALS SO DESPERATE TO USE NON-UNION PRODUCTION LABOR outside of L.A.??)
*gawd, I could go on for days . . .*
This guy is soooooooo unfunny its painful. He ruined Bewitched, as I predicted.
stupid is as stupis is as stupid is – Ferrell
He's as funny as USC's defense…
It's really too bad. He's capable of being really funny – I've liked some of his skits and videos he's made (some of the FunnyOrDie stuff), and I enjoyed "Elf" a lot more than I thought I would. I think that was the last funny movie he may have made, though. Sad to see him swirling down the toilet bowl of leftist political "comedians".
Corollary: Regardless of what Will Farrel is paid, he is the most overpaid actor in the world.
AND FURTHERMORE–
How many times have I walked into an office suite in Beverly Hills or West Hollywood where UNPAID COLLEGE INTERNS are toiling away while the BOSS/ PRODUCER/AGENT/LAWYER has a photo of herself with Bill Clinton or Al Gore at a Democratic Party fundraiser??? (AND THESE PHOTOS DON'T COME CHEAP- you usually have to pony up the equivelant of Congressman/felon William Jefferson's freezer box in order to stand next to either one of these Liberal Bubbas). But hey, you don't have to pay your Interns because, um, as Democrats you represent the poor and the *little guy* (insert irony here).
I would love to see how long he would last on the old Vaudeville stage.
I never understood how this guy could even make the claim that he was funny.
Without a doubt the top comedian of his generation … you people need to chillax … vaudeville ? how old are you ? other than the stakeholders, who cares how much he makes ? it's comedy …
"Land of the Lost", was excruciatingly painful to try to sit through…and I am a BIG Sid and Mary Kroft fan…
I gave up…
One of my friends had bought the DVD…apparently to help get his home cleared after a party, I suppose; it works great for that…
Why? Why does Ferrell even have a job? He's never been even remotely funny and has this… je ne sais quoi, but it causes me to have feelings of rage to such a degree that I want to punch him in his face, just like Jim Carey and Alec Baldwin.
Now THAT would be fun. I'd bring LOTS of tomatoes and eggs to his Vaudeville 'act'.
Once again unattractive and untalented sums up everything about a "star".
It's comedy? I've seen way better.
When was ferrell ever an actor ? ………he was always a failed comedian.
It seems that these actors all follow the same model. As soon as their careers begin to tank they get political and piss off at least half of their audience. Every movie afterward bombs. See Chevy Chase, Jim Carey, Alec Baldwin, George Clooney, ad nauseam. Once they realize what's happening, most will back pedal on the left wing political rants and, if they're lucky, things return to normal.
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Will Ferrel would eat his own doo-doo if he thought it would get him some press. He is as sickening as he is dispicable, however he is at fourteen minutes and counting.
It seems that Will Ferrell has gone the same route as Chevy Chase.
He knew that already, which is why he's been going the Clooney route to fame and glory. If he isn't getting better parts, it's because he's "controversial".
Right.
He's not an actor, he just plays himself in his roles; a pompous moron.
I never felt that Will Ferrell could carry anything as the headliner, I didn't mind him so much when he was a sideman (Old School), but who really thought he was top billing material? I'm just glad that the rest of the country is realizing what I knew 7 years ago.
I think so. Over-rated untalented socialist. Talladega nights was worst movie I have seen. Unintelligible, geeberish and just pure garbage. I thought the reason it was even made because of pure contempt to the masses. It was so trashy I didn't finished the film.
" It factored in the production costs of those movies against how much boxoffice, DVD and other revenue they generated"
Just production? What about marketing, or does production include marketing?
He's as funny as USC's defense… Ouch!! How true though LOL!!!
Elf was the last good movie I've seen that he did, although what I saw of Anchorman wasn't bad. Bewitched and Land of the Lost? Forget it.
No shit.
Absolutely! Had looked forward to that show, but when he was cast…predictable outcome!
Which doesn't speak well for his generation. Potty humor, vomit humor…etc.
Ferrell's not an actor….a star, maybe….but not an actor.
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Those BIG $$ days are going to be gone after Avitar tanks w/ a $500 mill price tag!! I'm so happy. Maybe the O will bale them!
"Without a doubt the top comedian of his generation … "
Which doesn't speak well for his generation. Denigrating others, potty humor, vomit humor, and just gross stuff in general. When I want to watch comedy, I don't watch anything remotely resembling the above. And I never repeat the mistake of watching Will Ferrell.
Now excuse me while the spouse and I watch, "Here Comes The Groom," with Bing Crosby and Jane Wyman – two actors NOT of my own generation, but talented…whoa—the talent!
Beauty and art are in the eye of the beholder.
Will Farrell is a very funny comedian. Most of you guys just don't get Will Ferrall.
If you didn't like "Old School", "Talladega Nights", "Elf" and some of his skits like "More Cowbell" just do not know comedy.
He's being paid big money because he's funny. Oh, and for the idiot that thinks Will Farrell AND Alec Baldwin aren't funny wouldn't know comedy if it hit them in the a**.
Old enough to have heard/seen some of the funniest comics there ever were.
And this fool isn't one of them.
If he was one of the top comics of his generation, then no wonder when he was on SNL, it almost went off the air.
I guess I'm in the minority here because I can at least stomach some of Will Farrell's stuff. He is an otherwise useless Hollywood liberal douche, but somehow some of his movies are okay. Don't hate me for it!
It's not the quality of the films that determine the roles he gets offered or salary paid, it's the politics and the actions he takes to push them.
Look at his Bush bashing filled career, that's gotta be worth millions in terms of Liberal brownie points, and that's exactly what he's being paid for, not for acting.
It's a reward.
This is axiomatic. Look at any outspoken liberal actor, and you'll see the same thing repeated.
Shakespeare is old, too. Ever read any? How old are you? Good grief man, Vaudeville is constantly referenced by top comedians like Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David to George Carlin, Rodney Dangerfield, rest their souls. But what did they know, right? They're just a bunch of old guys.
Land of the Lost was perhaps the worst case of financial and creative malpractice in Hollywood in recent memory. Whoever decided to take a fondly remembered children's show for adults who now have their own children that had dinosaurs and a strong girl lead as well as monsters that were scary but not too scary for children and turn it into a ranchy PG-13 comedy inappropriate for children should never be trusted with a studio's money ever again.
Take that back!!! You are insulting douches everywhere!!!
Please tell me more about what else goes on in those office suites…
I was pleased to hear that someone was going to make a movie of "Land of the Lost"…until I learned it would be a comedy starring Will Farrell. There were some neat ideas in the old television show, and it enjoyed having a few established science fiction authors scripting episodes. Handled properly, I think it could have been a hit action/adventure movie.
Such a waste.
My wife and I made the mistake of putting that movie on our Blockbuster list. We were only able to get about twenty minutes into it before we couldn't stand it any longer. I agree with what you've said here – "pure contempt for the masses" oozes out of every minute of that waste of digital space.
Amen!
Comedy on film is "My Girl Friday" with Cary Grant. That is the standard, in my opinion, and, yes, Mr. Grant worked in Vaudeville. Mr. Ferrell is the kind of guy who is perhaps funny at a Hollywood party attended by actors who envy his pay checks but who would be asked to leave if he were ever invited to a house party in middle America. The TV comedy sketch standard is Your Show of Shows with Sid Ceasar et al, and Monty Python. Mr. Ferrell should not be mentioned in the same breath. He reminds me of the clowns we all knew in elementary school who farted and got a laugh from some of the other 7-year-olds in the room. He is still doing the same inane things and worse on small & big screens but getting paid millions for it.
Oh, good grief! There you go! Exactly!
By the way, love Cary Grant films myself.
Will Ferrell's career could also be called the War on Braincells.
More cowbell!
I like Will Ferrell as a voice actor. His work in animation is great.
That said, just looking at him sucks the humor out of every movie he's ever been in. He's been playing the same goofy character for about a decade now.
He is disgusting. I wouldn't watch anything this guy is in.
I know comedy when I laugh. He doesn't make me laugh. He makes me sick. Just for your information, no those two things aren't the same thing.
Brutal. As someone who endured the years of probation in the mid-80's to present all I can say is…"When did that A-hole Mike Garrett get control and hire Paul Hackett?"
Many teams in the NFL are enjoying the fruits of Carroll's NFL farm system. Even Bob Stoops didn't get this much crap.
Oh.. And speaking of crap this brings us back on topic with Ferrell. Now I know why he is in bed with the other side. At $3.29 for every dollar he was paid he needs ACORN to make him look viable.
Just who is this Will Ferrell guy? Is he on TV?
I disagree. Chevy Chase was never funny. There was a time when Will Ferrell was funny.
Do you think Pete Carroll will go back to the NFL?……perhaps the Washington Redskins hmmmmm
What does "chillax" mean "dude".. I mean douche..I mean douchebag. That's all right.. I grew up with words like "far-out" in my vocabulary and I'm sure my parents felt like they got a stick pushed up their asses everytime I said it.
_____________________________________________________
Life is a bucket of shit with a barbed wire handle — Jim Thompson
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Talladega nights is one of the worst movies I have ever seen.
Nobama's Pay Czar should cap the Hollywood Crowd's pay!
Have you seen him without his shirt on recently? May be he should take up bodybuilding.
Will Ferrell is a fat, ugly, communist, Nazi, Socialist buffoon who is about as funny as Stalin's left shoe. I might be a little out of line by saying this but I would easily compare this buffoon to Hitler. I read somewhere that he said if he could push a button and destroy America he would "Do it in a second". He might have been joking but I don't think so. Why don't you move to Iran Mr. Farrell if you hate America so much. Buffoon.
Step-Brothers, Land of the Lost, Semi-Pro, Bewitched, Talledega Nights, etc. Which of those were good movies??? Maybe he will go the way of Chevy Chase, and we wont be subjected to his crap anymore.
I'd add in at least some of the old Carol Burnett shows. A lot of the sketch comedy was fall-on-the-floor funny, and at least in my memory was never crude. Tim Conway, Harvey Coreman, Burnett herself… all amazingly funny and talented.
The only sketches I could never watch were the Mama's-Family bits. THOSE were, in my view, were cruel, and did a lot to start the run on husband-as-castrato "comedy".
The thing is, these people don't come out as left wing until AFTER they made big $. They're smart enough to wait and then come out and try to appear 'honorable'. Rosey O and Ellen D didn't come out as gay until AFTER they made a bunch of money. Then these people are quick to call people that disagree with them names like right wing nut, homophone and hypocrite. Who are the real hypocrites?
Another reason not to go to the movies or buy dvds.
When liberal actors start to age or their talents slip, they become more politically vocal. It usually adds one to two years to their career.
The most comedic aspect to this is the idea that Will Ferrell is a comedic actor. I've yet to see him in anything that I felt was even slightly humorous.
Personally I don't think he's funny but I certainly applaud his ability to get every nickle he's received. That's what the free market is all about. Obviously someone thinks he's worth the money.
Now that I do agree with. Free market capitalism – even if he is a no-talent hack of a comic, he has every opportunity to make a dollar in a legal fashion…and this he's done in a big way. And to that end, I do applaud him. Even if I disagree with his politics, actions, comments and think he is completely untalented at what he does…if he can legally make a buck doing it – good for him.
Make sure that they're spoiled – no use wasting good food on that hack.
Why? One of those many questions that "Hollowood" can't answer – like, why did Pauly Shore get not one, but two television shows, why was Perez Hilton regarded as such an authority on celebrities and pop culture in general, and why is "Saturday Night Live" still on?
"Star" – as in "giant, glowing ball of gas, collapsing under its own weight".
He was very funny in Old School, again, somebody mentioned he was not the lead, and was supported by two other very funny actors. Some of the old SNL was funny, Alex Trebek, Cowbell, etc. But make no mistake, his work has gone downhill. There is nothing amusing on FunnyorDie. His newer movies are awful. ____It never ceases to amaze me that these so called actors become politcal and their careers tank. Newsflash Actors, you are lucky you have a fun career, I don't believe you have to be very smart to do what you do, so when you try to weigh in on political matters, lets just say, it's above your pay grade. Nobody wants to hear what someone living in a fantasy life with millions of dollars thinks about policy which won't even touch them.
Hey – John Wayne in "The Quiet Man" with Maureen O'Hara was funnier than this guy!
Press and hold the Alt key while typing 0162 and you'll get the cent symbol "¢"
Will Ferrell's humor is "turd-in-the-punchbowl" type stuff. It may appeal to the juvenile mind but adults find it disgusting.
Agreed!
The late, great Johnny Carson once said of Chevy Chase (after Chevy had guest hosted the Tonight Show) "He couldn't ad lib a fart at a baked bean dinner".
I feel the same way, when they announced it I thought they were going the serious route and would try to make a legitimate action movie like the TV series tried to be. Granted it was low budget TV but the actors and writers tried to make the most of what they had. When Ferrells name was announced I wrote it off as crap.
i agree bing bob hope cary grant abbot n costello marx bros laurel n hardy funny with out trah talk sexual humor just pure talent
I dunno Danny.. the three you named, I didn't like. That being said, I did actually like Semi-Pro (i happened to get it on cable last week), and thought it was fun to watch.
That being said, I didn't find it funny enough to go spend $12 or $13 bucks at a movie theatre…
Add in that I think the 'rankings' of how overpaid is kind of overrated… how many of us would rather sit in the comfort of our own home, and not deal with the headaches of a poorly-run movie theatre?
Ferrell = White Stepin Fetchitt
His purpose is and always has been, like Chevy Chase before him, to make the white American male look like a complete idiot nerd buffoon. He does it well. At least chase was somewhat funny. Another in a long line of "the idiot Father figure", the most cliched type in Hollywood. Homer Simpson, Al Bundy, and just about every white male in just about every sitcom since Father Knows Best.
I think his prime motivator when acting is "make it uncomfortable for people to watch you." And he succeeds. It is embarassing to watch him, as a white male American.
Now that was funny!
I agree, Elf was his last truely quality film. Anchorman was pretty funny for a dumb comedy. Since then, his movies have been pretty much just of the dumb comedy variety, sans the funny.
OK Danny, now you can go back to grade school and make fart sounds under your arms, I sure you think that is really funny too.
¢ awesome! thanks ¢
Nor does it matter how bad they are. WHEN, will investors in Hollywood crap start to question the bottom line?
I have to say that I gave him a chance. I saw "Ron Burgundy" and "Talledega Nights" and Zoolander" and waited for the laughs that never came. Last spring I was down with a bad respiratory infection and laid up for several days. I rented several movies including "Step Brothers" figuring that even a mild giggle would make me feel better and I always appreciate John C. Reilly. A third of the way through the film I was screaming (croaking) at the TV because Ferrell was so bad. After yanking it from my DVD player Ii realized that I was actually pulse-poundingly angry; no make that ENRAGED at being taken for $3.50 in this way. I then realized that he has never been funny in anything. Even the famous cheerleading sketches with Cheri Oteri from SNL are the work of a brain-dead class clown. If anyone wants to organize a nationwide "Boycott Will Ferrell Not Just Because of His Politics but Because He Stinks" movement count me in for a heavy contribution!
"Chillax?" Man you are so last Tuesday. I teach at a fairly large college and nobody uses that expression anymore. As to M. Ferrell being the "top comedian of his generation" – Given the fact that so much of show-biz reputation is now politically driven you may be right. This however does not equate with "funniest comedian of his generation" or "most insightful comedian of his generation." I suspect that Ferrell knows of his (considerable) limitations and he plays the leftist politics card really hard in order to keep the critics at bay. Wanda Sykes does the same thing. Their audiences are like Pavlov's dog, always programmed to laugh at the same thing no matter how often it's repeated.
I only made it to the part where the kid at the dinner table cusses out his grandfather, and no one does a thing about it. Although there were clues before, that scene confirmed that whatever came after would only be more of the sick attitudes and standards most Hollywood films promote these days. Exit, stage left!
Ferrell is one of those left wing Hollywood slugs who continues to revel (read wallow) in unending sophmoric bathroom humor. He suffers from a classic case of CRI. Crebral rectal inversion. The guy has no class at all. What a waste of good celluloid.
Now THAT was inspired! :O
I agree, he is a comedic genius and one of the best of his generation. I'm 32 and have seen most of his movies. He's also produced quite a few comedies that were excellent. The guy is funny, anyone who denies that doesn't know comedy.
I've seen every Seinfeld and loved Rodney Dangerfield but I never heard either reference Shakespeare.
Try to separate your politics from your entertainment. Denigrating Farrell's talent does not help your political argument.
I think that you've nail it, by GOD!
It's so-called "Stars" like Ferrell that make Hollywood like criminally unfunny and unprofessional. KEEP IT UP, WILL – YOU'R DOING US CONSERVATIVES A FAVOR!
Interesting photo – is he up for the lead as Dorian Gray?
ya, for the Texas/SoCal Rose Bowl National Championship game they had Ferrell facing off with Texas' Matthew McConaughey. So it was kinda lightweight v. lightweight but old Matthew has come out supporting our troops and doing some nice work in that arena so advantage Texas (plus the win!)
I just ordered a 2 hour DVD of Your Show of Shows sketches for my parents for Christmas (and a copy for myself). At $4.95 it's an hugely better value that whatever's at Blockbuster these days.
Nah, he's the main deal in L.A., sittin' pretty. He'll just reload and maybe shakeup the defensive side of the ball staff wise. That's a plumb job, just like Texas and Alabama and Notre Dame and OU and Florida. He should challenge every year.
I'm really impressed by the job both Harbaugh at Stanford has done as well as Kelly at Oregon. That league is catching up with S.C.
As a inveterate life long Texas fan I detest Bob Stoops but he does get 'em ready and he does coach 'em up. That's an elite program like the other traditional powers. He's just such an arrogant jerk.
Now Mack Brown is a gentleman and a God send for Texas fans. He's just intense enough but under control and he's PILING UP the WINS. He's averaging like 11 wins a year for the last 10 years. Elite – thy name is TEXAS. (basketball is #3, ladies like #14, baseball is elite, sports @Texas is riding very high)
Anchorman was pretty good, fairly well done. Love Christina Applegate, she's a doll (yum – Kelly Bundy!)
I disagree. Chase has been un-funny all the way back to Groove Tube and Lemmings. He was the only dead spot in the original SNL cast, but fortunately left after the first year.
don't forget a penchant for getting ~naked~ for no particular reason in every movie….YUK!
true dat!
Correct.
He would have to go to school and completely alter his personality to qualify at the douche level.
He is – at best – an expired and non-functional enema, rather like Andrew Sullivan.
I never liked Will Ferrel and now I see why.
I would tend to agree that Carroll is sitting pretty in SoCal, but you never know if any coach may hear the siren call of Danny Snyder's dollars, even if they'd have limited control, that they may follow the money to DC.
Watched some of the Carol Burnett clips this past week. No matter how many times I see it, Conway and Corman as dentist and patient crack me up!
You know, MM has gained my respect, by his support for the troops. That must be the TEXAN, coming of him.
I'm not that big of a college football follower, even though I lived about a 1 1/2 miles from Rutgers Stadium. That being said, I didn't have a dog in the fight, but that Texas/USC Rose Bowl game, was an Effing GREAT game!! One of the best games at any level that I'd ever seen.
You know what Land of the Lost needed? Some more cow bell!
Land of the Lost must be that new movie based on Hollywood.
substitute the name "Martin Lawrence" for "Will Ferrell" (who at least had Anchorman) and you're onto something…
Homer Simpson is a "yellow" male, you sped…
I still say Eddie Murphy is (even) more overpaid, not to mention more of a dick…
Unfortunately, Chevy Choad's career has been harder to kill than Rasputin, as evidenced by his ruining Community on a weekly basis…
How do you explain Shill Maher's POS show getting renewed for an eighth(!) season then?
While I agree with the reference to Martin Lawrence (yet another unfunny comic – there is a boatload of them), I'm being further specific with regards to Ferrell…Anchorman did make me chuckle, however, it wasn't due to anything Ferrell did on screen. Funny movie – somewhat. Funny due to Ferrell being in it as opposed to say, A drunken elephant – I wouldn't have noticed a difference.
On second thought, I think I'd take some week old dead fish and a few buckets of lard.
Ewww, you said Pauly Shore and Prez in the same sentence. Yep, SNL started… okay but was tanking after the original cast left. This guy http://s297.photobucket.com/albums/mm228/stem50/?... saved SNL in the 80s and they had a great cast from around '87 to '94. I really have no idea why this show has remained on the air since then. I guess it's due to the idiocracy we've become or maybe people just want a few laughs but don't know where else to look.
great! let him pay for healthcare
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtqoQczI9ok
I actually really liked Stranger Than Fiction. It wasn't exactly a comedy though. Some funny parts and some serious parts.
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